Subscribe to our Newsletterx

Video: Watch a Honda crash at 286km/h

22 November, 2013 |
by Benedict Pather

As Brian Gillespie will attest, things can turn very nasty, very quickly when closing in on 322kph.

Earlier this month, at an SCTA race event in Southern California, he was attempting to get his plucky first-generation Honda Insight past the 322Km barrier. That was until something went wrong at 286kph.

A small sway to the right sent the Honda into a full-on broadside slide, anchoring the wheels into the lake bed and then into a violent set of high-speed tumbles.

Most of the car was destroyed, but the beefy roll cage remained. This, as well as the stringent SCTA safety regulations (mandated head-and-neck restraints, side-to-side head support and arm restraints to keep hands inside the car) saved Brian’s life.

He remained conscious throughout the crash and was cut out of the car and airlifted to hospital with a collapsed lung and bruising. He has since been discharged and is back at work. Brian is clearly made of stern stuff.

Fans

Subscribe

4330followers

0likes

A properly South African print version of the world's best car show.
Top Gear South Africa features all best musings of Jeremy, Hamster and Captain Slow blended with an uniquely Top Gear take on car culture.
Factually relevant with fearless, impartial features. It’s the best motoring publication in Mzanzi: proudly South African with a classic Top Gear tongue-in-cheek twist.